Never Ending Movie Carnival
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Kanjoos Makhichoos Review: Witty, Satirical & Emotional
What: Kanjoos Makhichoos – starring Kunal Khemu, Shweta Tripathi along with Late Raju Srivastava is a witty, satirical and emotional entry of the Gujarati blockbuster Chaal Jeevi Laiye fame Vipul Mehta’s into Hindi cinema.
Kanjoos Makhichoos movie synopsis
Jamna Prasad Pandey (Kunal Khemu) is famous for his maha kanjoosi (miser) in small mohalla of Lucknow. Actually, Jamna is secretly saving money to fulfill the long-cherished dream of sending his parents on a pilgrimage to the chaar dhaam.
But destiny has another story to say, all hell breaks loose when his parents – father Ganga Prasad Pandey (Piyush Mishra) and mother Saraswati Pandey (Alka Amin) get caught in a storm while on their way to Kedarnath.
Vipul Mehta who made those life assuring Gujarati cinema like Carry On Kesar’, ‘Best Of Luck Lalu’ and of course the game changer Chaal Jeevi Laiye that confirmed the fact that Gujarati cinema is beyond those garba, dhokla etc.
In Kanjoos Makhichoos Vipul Mehta mixes the aam aadmi of RK Laxman with the satire of Harishankar Parsai and tries to blend it with a message like Raju Hirani mainstream to mix effects.
The initial moments of Jamna Prasad Pandey (Kunal Khemu) were he takes bath on the river bank to save electricity bill, crushes the empty toothpaste with a belan, lightens the incense stick and then extinguishes, brings vegetables not by kilo but count is funny.
The character is irritating but fun, later the same Jamna sweeps the audience who respects parents and value their incomparable contribution is the core winning beat of this drama laced with a relevant message.
'Kanjoos Makhichoos' on paper and by the story line had a dynamite that would have exploded like a rage but Vipul Mehta in his Hindi debut fails to create an edge and his comment/satire at times is pale.
Personally, I would have loved the film’s satire to be at par with its family and emotional bonding. The Lucknow milieu was not proper. Piyush Mishra was there but I doubt whether any help advice from him was taken by Vipul Mehta.
Still the movie works, its works in its emotion, the value system – respect for family thing and the attack on the system – corruption.
Dialogues are mostly routine but the one which stayed was – peeth majboot rakhna, log shabashi aur dhokha dono wahi dete hai.
Honestly in comparison to the winning sweep like Chaal Jeevi Laiye and the hangover is evident from the character of the stranger who ends up giving some solid gyan, Kanjoos Makhichoos is not at par.
Kunal Kemmu shines brightly and it is his movie. He is outstanding.
Shweta Tripathi Sharma is also very good.
Am not happy with way Piyush Mishra got treated. Such a waste of such a great talent.
Alka Amin is fine
Rajiv Gupta as the corrupt government employee is fabulous.
And yes Raju Srivastav is such a delight.
Kanjoos Makhichoos is a decent watch with a good message. The movie works in its satire a places, its family bonding and values. Going with 3.5 an extra for the late Raju Srivastav
The movie is streaming on ZEE5.
A child born from life & fed by cinema. A filmi keeda from child & a film journalist for the last fifteen years. a father, seeker, foodie who loves crooning bollywood melodies twitter.com/cineblues More By vishal verma